Method and apparatus for providing a separable protective edge for carpeting



March 7, 1961 H. w. BALLARD 2,973,801

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING A SEPARAELE PROTECTIVE EDGE FOR CARPETING Filed June 15, 1958 my.; 4 s

l flllllllllllllllm 'Patent No. 2,806,283, the present 2,973,801 ICC.- patented Mar. 7,1961

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING A PROTECTIVE EDGE FOR CAR- Hyde W. Ballard, West Chester, Pa., assignor to James Lees and Sons Company, Bridgeport, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed June 13, 1958, Ser. No. 742,468

8 Claims. (Cl. 154-42) This invention relates to a slitting device useful in providing a quickly separable edge for lengths of carpet.

Unlike the device shown and described in Brennan device is primarily useful in providing a quickly separable'prote'ctive edge for carpeting 'as opposed to a mere trimming operation in which a portion of the tufts and untufted backing fabric is required to be removed. When it becomes necessary to carefully match the patterns or the 'face pile appearance of two strips or rolls of carpeting preparatory to seaming, it is extremely important that the edges of the carpeting are straight, clear, and undamaged. For this reason it is desirable to partially cut or perforate the edge along the carpet at the point where it can be matched precisely with the adjoining strip. Furthermore, in shipment and handling it sometimes happens that la raw edge of carpet will become damaged or frayed to an extent that a clean imperceptable joint cannot be made.

It is a primary object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an apparatus for severing the edge of a pile fabric and then simultaneously tacking the severed edge to the carpet to act as a protective element.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combined cutting and sealing apparatus which cuts completely through the edge of the pile fabric in one zone and then positions the cut faces of the severed fabrics against each other so that adhesive may be applied to temporarily tack the severed edges together.

A further object of the invention is to provide a power driven carpet cutting element which may be positioned in close spaced relation to a liquid adhesive applicator.

A further object of the invention is to provide a power driven cutting element for pile fabrics, a lateral pressure applying element, and an adhesive applicator all in close spaced relation.

A further object is to provide a method for simultaneously severing and lightly re-adhering the severed portions of a pile fabric. v

Further objects will be apparent from the drawings and specification in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective showing a roll of carpet having a severed edge or border which has been lightly adhered to the carpet to facilitate subsequent quick and accurate separation,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail as seen at 2-2 of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a schematic elevation of a carpet severing and liquid adhesive applicator constructed in accordance with 'the present invention,

Fig. 4 is a schematic plan of the apparatus as seen vat 4--4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section seen at 5-5 -of Fig. 3,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section seen at 6-6 -of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section seen at 7--7 vof Fig. 3.

The invention comprises essentially a method and apparatus which completely severs or cuts a pile fabricixlV a iirst zone and then subsequently applies a liquid adhesive to the severed raw fabric edges to lightly tack vthem together so that they 'may be manually separated without diiculty. The adhesive is applied to a controlled area along the severed raw edge. and lateral pressure is supplied by a suitable means such 'as a driven brush.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a roll of carpet 10 is provided with a removable edge 11 in order to prevent damage to the roll during shipping or at any other time before actual installation. In order that the carpet layer may install the carpetto obtain a perfect pattern match, it is important to have -a true untreated raw edge available on the location where the carpet is to be installed. Hand tools available on location do not always 4cut a true edge and shipment ofthe carpet from the store, warehouse, or other location where an accurateY cutter might be installed often results in fraying or damaging the edge, thus defeating the entire purpose. Therefore, before shipment,'it is proposed to completely sever along a perfectly straight line thenarrow edge 1 1 of the carpet by means of a power driven cutter or disc 12 which is connected to a motor 13 byV suitable driving connections 14. The cutter 12 is mounted upon an arbor 15 secured thereto by means of'suitable plates 16 and nut 17 (Fig. 5). The arbor 15 is desirably journaled in a framework, not shown, so that it may be held in spaced relation to the top of a supporting surface 18 along which the carpet 10 is moved. Alternatively, the slitting and tacking apparatus may be 'movable itself and may have a skid or plate 19 through which both the cutter 12` and an endless guiding belt 20 extend.

At a zone directly behind the cutter 12 a means is provided for applying an adhesive 21 to a controlled or limited area of the raw edges 22 and 23 of the carpet.

Liquid adhesive is contained in a reservoir 24 which may be pressurized through a line or conduit 25, The vadhesive ilows through an electrically controlled valve 26 into a hollow elongated shoe 27 shown in Fig. 6. `The interior or bore of shoe 27 is provided with a vertically extending passage 28 which connects the reservoir 24 through a conduit 29 and the valve 26. Passage 28 has two or more horizontally extending orifices 30, 30 which supply the adhesive to concave grooves 31, 31 running horizontally along the sides of shoe 27. The shoe extends v downwardly and is provided with a flare or foot 32, 32 on either side thereof which serves as a seal to prevent the adhesive from running downwardly and coming in contact with the pile 33 of the carpet. It will thus be understood that the adhesive is applied to a restrictedzone of the raw edges 22 and 23 in order to providey a relatively light, quickly detachable bond between the edges and also to control the amount of adhesive applied to the edges.

In order to prevent the adhesive from owing through passage 28 except when the apparatus is actually in operation, a suitable switch for the valve 26 may be pro-f` vided for either manual or automatic control. A feeler 35 (Fig. 3) is positioned to contact the upper surface ofV the carpet 10. When the feeler is in the raised position,

'valve 26 is opened through connections 36 between the switch 37, electrical source 38, and the valve actuating p solenoid 39. Manual control for the valve solenoid v39 may also be provided, if desired.

Pressure for urging the raw edges 22 and 23 together before the adhesive sets up is provided by means ofV a brush 40 which is drivingly connected to motor 13 through i reduction element 41 and a driving connection 42. The

brush 40 is assisted in guiding the severed edges 22 and 23 together by means of a plurality of biased ridges `43 kf on the undersurface of plate 19 at and intermediately' following the position of shoe 27 The method and apparatus described above is shown in conjunction with a pile rug or carpet having pile projections 33 and ground or backing material 44 to which a second layer of backing material 45 may be applied. This second backing layer 45 may be latex, a woven material adhered to the ground fabric 44, or a resilient pad or cushion such as rubber or felt. Particularly when a foam rubber backing material is applied to the fabric, it will be desirable, if not necessary, to provide means for guiding and propelling the carpet with respect to the slitting mechanism. Belt 20 assists in guiding the fabric passed the cutter 12 in a straight line and the belt in order to have a suitable span is shown mounted on pulleys 46 and 47 located in front of the cutter l2 and in back of the brush 40 respectively.

The present invention represents an improvement over prior art devices in that there is a complete severing of the fabric thus eliminating the need for precise and accurate adjustments. Furthermore, there is no possibility of damaging the raw edge since the type of adhesive and amount that is applied can be readily controlled to insure that the strip 11 is held in place only enough to prevent pre-mature removal before actual in stallation of the carpet. It will be understood that the brush 40 may be dispensed with entirely under certain conditions or it may be mounted in any desired relative position in regard to the plane of the carpet and the shoe 27.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. The method of protecting the edge of a roll of pile carpet which comprises the steps of completely severing Ia pile and backing border strip from the carpet, simultaneously applyingan adhesive to the raw severed edges,

and pressing the edges together to provide a readily separable joint between the severed edges.

2. The methods of claim 1 including the steps of applying a liquid adhesive to a limited area of the raw edges.-

3.- The method of claim 2 including the step of maintaining the adhesive on the upper portion of the severed edge to prevent contact between the adhesive and the pile surface of the carpet.

4. The method of claim 3 in which the liquid adhesive is applied under pressure.

AS. In a device for cutting length of a pile fabric, the combination which comprises a cutting element positioned to completely sever the pile fabric from top to bottom, means mounted in close spaced relation to the trailing edge of said cutting element for applying a liquid adhesive to the raw edges of the pile fabric, and means for pressing said raw edges together to temporarily adhere the edges to each other.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 having a reservoir from which the liquid adhesive is supplied under pressure, and an electrically controlled valve between the liquid applying element and the reservoir for shutting off the ow of liquid.

7, Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 having driving means for the cutting element.

8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 in which the pressing means is a brush.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

